Opening the ceremony of the Africa CEO Forum 2026 (ACF2026), the President highlighted that the continent must stop looking outward for solutions and instead leverage its own unexploited resources to secure its position on the global stage.

Addressing a room of business leaders and policymakers, Kagame noted that the challenges imposed by the international community serve as a necessary "wake-up” call for the continent.

“These pressures, that we get from the rest of the world, Africa is being reminded to wake up. So the pressures are not entirely bad, they force Africa to look within for what we have. To actually do what we need to do to find a good place for us in this world of those injustices and other challenges,” President Kagame said.

The President underscored that the responsibility for Africa’s development rests solely on its own people, stressing that every individual has a role to play in the continent's progress. He pointed out that Africa possesses vast potential that remains underutilized.

“I want people to know that each one of the people in this room and beyond, have something to contribute and to benefit from, benefit each other,” he added.

 Noting that the “continent has a lot that is not being put to good use and it is up to us - it is not people from anywhere else, to be able to raise ourselves to that level where we should be.”

The Africa CEO Forum remains a platform for African business, bringing together top executives and heads of state to discuss the continent's economic future.

The 2026 forum centers on the theme “Scale or Fail: Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership,” prioritizing a transition from fragmented growth toward broad-based, large-scale competitiveness.

The forum serves as a primary hub for investment negotiations, strategic partnerships, and high-level policy dialogue between government leaders and business executives.